Ice tray and a method of mechanically releasing ice blocks



Aug. 20, 1940. J. H. MINER VIcls TRAY AND A METHOD oF MEcmIcALLYREM-:Asme ICE BLOCKS Original Filed Feb. 2.*1935 Patented Aug; 2o, 1940PATENT OFFICE ICE TRAY AND A METHOD F MECHANI- CALLY RELEASING ICEBLOCKS James H. Miner, Meridian, Miss., assignor to General ElectricCompany, a corporation of New York Application February 2, 1935, SerialNo. 4,707

Renewed January 16, 1

16 Claims.

My invention relates vto ice trays for producing ice blocks and moreparticularly to an ice tray from which the ice blocks can be easilyremoved and to a method of mechanically releasing the ice blocks fromthe ice tray.

It is a generally recognized disadvantage of most ice trays that theymake removal of the ice frozen therein, extremely diiiicult. This is dueto the strong adherence between the ice and lo the sides of the tray andgrid.

It is an object of my invention to provide an ice tray and a grid forproducing ice blocks, and an improved arrangement for mechanicallyreleasing the ice blocks from the ice tray and the l grid withoutthawing the frozen bonds between the ice blocks and the ice tray and thegrid.

Another object of my invention is to provide an ice tray having a gridco-operating therewith to form a plurality of ice block compartments andlim an improved method of mechanically releasing the ice blocks disposedin the compartments from the ice tray and the grid without thawing thefrozen bonds between the ice blocks and their compartment walls.

2A Further objects and advantages of my inven-l tion will becomeapparent as the following description proceeds, and the features ofnovelty which characterize my invention will be pointed out withpartieularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of thisspecification.

A preferred'embodiment of the invention is illustrated in theaccompanying drawing in which:

Fig. l is a side elevation.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation partly in section with the grid displacedupwardly.

Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional view of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional view of a modiilcation.

Referring to the drawing, I have shown a freezing or ice tray 5 which ispreferably of generally oblong shape having outwardly sloping sides. Theupper edge of the long sides of the tray are inwardly turned to form adownwardly facing internal flange or shoulder 8 constituting anabutment. To limit the water level within the tray at a point below theto'p edge of the tray, the sides of the tray may have one or moreopenings 'I therein at the desired point.

Within the tray and co-operating therewith to form a plurality ofadjacent pairs of ice block compartments is a removable grid made up ofa longitudinal upright plate or partition 8 and transverse partitions 9rigidly carried thereby.

'Ihe partition 8 is disposed centrally of the tray and extends thelength of the tray, and the partitions 9 extend to the sides of thetray. It is to be noted 'that the partitions 8 and 9 are tapered invertical cross-section so that the faces diverge upwardly from a thinpart at the bottom of the tray to a thick part above the water level.'I'he central partition 8 has a plurality of apertures I8 and I Itherethrough which provide shoulders or abutments on the grid tofacilitate mechanical release of the ice blocks or cubes from theircompartment walls without thawing the frozen bonds between the iceblocks and their compartment walls. It will be understood that theabutments provided by the apertures I0 may be made in any suitablemanner, as by forming the grid in any convenient manner. The aperturesI8 are above the water level established by openings 1 in the tray andrprovide downwardly facing shoulders or abutments on the grid, while theapertures II are below the Water level and provide upwardly facingshoulders or abutments on the grid. These apertures I0 and II are soarranged that one only opens into each ice compartment. Preferably theupper apertures I0 are at the ends of the partition 8.

To withdraw the grid from the tray and to mechanically release the iceblocks from their jecting laterally from the lever near the end I4" is apin I5 of a size to enter apertures I0.

In the use of this apparatus, the tray with the grid in place is filledto its maximum level with water, and is then subjected to a freezingtemperature. It will be apparent that through the apertures II a stripof ice will be formed connecting the ice blocks or cubes on oppositesides of the center partition, and the upper surface of the ice will bebelow the apertures Ill which provide the abutments or stops for thelever. To elevate the grid the projecting pin I5 which constitutes aforce-transmitting portion of the lever is inserted in one of theapertures I0 and the end I4 of the lever is then brought to bear againstthe ice by giving the handle or force-multiplying portion of the lever adownward turning' movement. Continued downward movement of the leverwill rock the lever upon the ice as a fulcrum and cause the grid to belifted upwardly away from the tray bottom. Obviously', the particularcube upon which the lever bears will remain downwardly in the tray, butthe other cubes will be carried upwardly with the grid due to theadherence between the ice and grid anddue also to the connecting stripof ice through apertures II which provide portions of the cubes engagingthe upwardly facing shoulders formed by the lower semicircular walls ofthe apertures.

'I'hose cubes which are being lifted with the grid will soon be broughtagainst the under shoulder 6 of the inturned upper edge of the tray andwill become arrested'thereby. As the grid is moved upwardly stillfurther it will become broken from these ice cubes due to the fact thatthe shoulder 6 holds the ice cubes against upward movement. Fig. 4 showsthe ice cube upon which the lever bears as still in its initial positionwhile the opposite ice cube has been broken loose both from the trayandgrid in the described manner.

'I'he forces created by the action of the lever I3 between the apertureI0 in the end of the grid and the upper surface of the ice block uponwhich the curved end I4 of the lever fulcrumscause the grid to be liftedin an inclined position which brings the ice block carried by the gridadjacent the aperture I0 therein into engagement with the shoulder 6prior to engagement between the adjacent pair of ice blocks disposed onopposite sides of the longitudinal partition 8 of the grid and theshoulders 6. Upon further elevation of the grid this ice block is brokenloose from the grid and the adjacent pairlof ice blocks is brought intoengagement with the shoulders 6. Still further elevation of the gridcauses this pair of ice blocks to be broken loose from the-grid and thenext adjacent pair of ice blocks to be brought into engagement with theshoulders 6. Thus, the adjacent pairs of ice blocks are broken loosefrom the grid successively from one end of the grid toward the other endthereof or in a predeter mined order.

To entirely remove the ice cubes, the grid is first taken completely outof the tray, this being facilitated by the tapered formation of the gridpartitions. 'Ihe individual ice cubes may then be easily removed byslightly bowing the upper edge of the tray outwardly to pass the cubesfree of the inturned upper edge of the tray. The removal of the gridpermits the cubes to come closer together and this may be sufficient toprovide clearance for removal of the ice cubes past the inturned trayedge. The ice cube upon which the lever acted rnay be easily brokenloose by a slight blow as with the lever.

While it'will ordinarily be sumcient to insert the lever in a single oneof the apertures I0 'to accomplish removal of the grid, it may be founddesirable to apply it rst in an aperture at one end of the grid and thento an aperture at the other end of the grid, thus giving each end of thegrid an upward movement. An advantage of the present arrangement is thatan enormous mechanical advantage is obtained due to the short distancebetween the fulcrum point of the lever and the pin I5 whichV appliesforce to the grid. Furthermore, by having the lever bear upon anice cubethere is no tendency to distort the tray as there would be if the leverfulcrumed upon the upper edge of the tray.

In Fig. 5 I have shown a modication of my invention in which the longsides of the tray have inwardly depressed portions I6 constitutingabutments below the water level in the tray to engage with andarrestupward movement of the ice cubes, instead of the inturned upperedge shown in the other gures.

It will be understood that the invention iS not limited to the use of agrid of which the partitions are of tapered shape in verticalcross-section, and also that it is not essential to the invention thatthe shoulder of the tray be spaced above the ice the proportionatedistance shown but that this spacing may be varied at will. Fig. 5, forexample, shows the tray shoulder formed by an indentation projectinginto the ice.

While IUhave shown a particular embodiment of my invention, I do notdesire my invention to be limited to the particular construction ormethod shown and described, and I intend in the appended claims to coverall modications within the spirit and scope of my invention.

What is claimed is:

1. In combination with an ice tray, a grid therein removable from thetray and comprising a centrally disposed longitudinal partition andlateral partitions projecting therefrom, said partition and partitionshaving upwardly diverging side faces to facilitate removal from thecontained ice, said longitudinal partition being aper, tured below thewater line to form ice strips which connect ice blocks to be lifted withthe grid, said ice strips carrying the connected ice'blocks upwardlywith the removable grid in opposition to the tendency of the slopingsides of the grid to become free of the ice.

2. I n combination with an` ice tray, a grid therein removable from thetray and comprising longitudinal and transverse partitions forsubdividing the contained ice, said partitions being tapered in verticalcross-section to facilitate withdrawal from the contained ice, andmanually loperable means adapted to exert a force between said grid andthe upper surface of the ice within said tray for elevating said grid,said grid presenting upwardly facing shoulders with which ice cubes tobe lifted with the grid engage, the shoulders being arranged to carrythe ice cubes engaged thereby upwardly with the removable grid inopposition to the tendency of the sloping sides to become free fromthose cubes as the grid is elevated.

3. In combination with an ice tray, a removable upstanding plate thereindividing the contained ice, said plate having a downwardly facingshoulder above the water line, and a lever having a portion to engageunder said shoulder and an immediately adjacent surface for bearing uponthe ice to form a fulcrum for the lever.

4. In combination with an ice tray., a removable upstanding platetherein dividing the contained ice, said plate having an aperturetherein above the water line, and a lever having a handlel portion atone end and a laterally projecting pin at the .other end to engagewithin said aperture, the end of said lever from which the pin projectshaving an under surface lower than the pin to bear upon the iceimmediately adjacent said aperture and provide a fulcrum for the leverinwardly of the tray edge. i

j 5. In combination with an ice tray, a removable grid thereincomprising longitudinal and transverse interconnected partitions forsubdividing the contained ice into cubes, said grid having openingsabove the water, a lever having a projecting pin portion to engagewithin one of said openings and a portion to engage with a cubeimmediately adjacent the opening, said grid having other openings belowthe water level to form 4ice strips connecting cubes other than thoseupon which said lever fulcrums.

6. In combination with anice tray, a grid therein removable from thetray and comprising a. loncentral partition to form ice compartments,the

central partition having apertures above the water line to receive atool for removing the grid l and below the water line to form connectingice strips throughthe partition, said apertures being so disposed thatone aperture only opens into each ice compartment.

7. In combination with an ice tray, a gri therein comprising alongitudinal partition disposed centrally of the tray and transversepartitions carried by the central partition to form ice compartments,said partition and partitions being tapered in vertical cross-section tofacilitate withdrawal of the grid upwardly away from the ice, saidcentral partition having apertures above and below the water/line sodisposed that one aperture only opens intb each ice compartment, a leverhaving a projecting pin portion to engage within an aperture above thewater level, and having a portion to bear upon the ice cube immediatelyadjacent that aperture, the apertures below the water level forming icestrips connecting ice cubes and serving to carry the connected ice cubesupwardly with the grid in opposition to the tendency of the slopingsides of the partitions to free the ice as the grid is elevated by saidlever.

8. In combination, an ice tray having the upper edges of an oppositepair of side walls inwardly turned, vand a removable partition withinthe tray extending in the direction of said side walls, said partitionhaving means to engage with and lift the ice upwardly against said edgeson upward movement of the partition.

9. An ice tray for refrigerators having an opening in its wallftodetermine the height of the water therein, a partition member removably'mounted in the tray, and a lever fulcruming on the ice and engaging thepartition'above the water line to dislodge said partition from the trayand the ice from the partition, substantially as described. e

10. An ice tray having a shoulder or flange extending inwardly fromtheupper part of its wall, a partition removably mounted in the tray, meansfor lifting the partition, and causing the ice to tilt about its pointof engagement with the shoulder or ange, substantially as described.

11. An ice tray having a partition movably mounted therein and providedwith means for engaging and lifting the ice, said tray having fulcrummeans on the inner side of its side walls about which the ice may tiltupwardly and outwardly relative to the center of the tray, and meansremovably engaging said partition for lifting the'same with the portionof the ice contacting therewith, substantially as described.

12. An ice tray having `a partition movably I mounted therein andprovided with means for engaging and lifting the ice, said tray havingfulcrum means on the inner side of its side walls 1about which the icemay tilt upwardly and outwardly relative to the center of the tray, and

means co-operating with said partition for lifting the same with theportion of the ice contacting therewith, substantially as described.

'-13. In combination with an ice tray, a. partition movably mounted insaid tray, means adapted to lift\said partition for mechanicallyreleasing theeicefrom said tray, and means including an abutment carriedby said tray and adapted to engage the ice for mechanically releasingthe ice-from said partition.

. 14. The combination with an ice tray and a grid therefor including alongitudinal element and a transverse element rigidly connected theretoof a lever having a force-multiplying portion and a force-transmittingportion, a stop posiy top of said grid to receive a force from saidlever directed away from the bottom of said tray when said lever isfulcrumed on an ice block in the tray and to cooperate with said leverand the ice block to move at least a portion of said grid I away fromsaid tray to mechanically release at least one ice block from the trayand grid.

16. A grid for an ice tray, said grid comprising partition meansextending longitudinally from o ne end of the grid to the other, aplurality of elements rigidly carried by and extending laterally fromsaid partition means and forming therewith walls of ice blockcompartments ranging along opposite sides of said partition means,

and means carried by certain of said elements and providing bearingsurfaces so arranged with 50 respect to each of the spaces'between thelastmentioned elements that a portion of a lever may be applied againstthe bearing surface associated with a selected space and another portionagainst a block frozen therein to release the latter from f the grid. Y

JAMES H. MINER.

